A Brother's Worry
by Elillierose
Summary: Lestallum is attacked, and with Prompto and Iris separated from the others, it's up to him to protect her. But, the concern of a bother can be blinding and Gladio's worry for his sister hinders his judgement. 10th fic in my 10 fic giveaway.


**Beta read by: SinikkavonWolperting**

 **Tenth of the ten fics for my 500 follower giveaway on Tumblr. I do these every 100 followers and am currently hosting the next if any are interested. Tumblr name is same as my name on here. C:**

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Prompto walked stiffly, side by side with the shield's sister. Nor for a single moment did he allow her to step so much as a few inches away from him. Under any other circumstances, the blond would have been thrilled. But given the recent warnings and Ignis' own suspicions...he wasn't sure they should even be in Lestallum. Not for the time being anyway. But, it wasn't like they had a choice; they were short on supplies and there was nowhere to stop for miles.

Iris strolled next to him. Even in these trying times, the cheer and innocence never slipped from her grasp. He wished he could say the same for himself. But, alas, here he was, paranoid and on the verge of grabbing her and taking the both of them back to the hotel. At least there, if anything did happen, they would be relatively safe. Still not completely, but it would be a nice change.

He let out a weary sigh, one that barely had time to escape his lips before the girl had his hand clasper in hers. Excitedly, he was dragged along, lead to yet another booth selling more, what he would consider, dainty trinkets. That wasn't to say he wasn't fascinated by the craft, but it just wasn't his cup of tea.

"Oooh, isn't it just precious?" Iris nearly squealed, a small carved chocobo held tightly in her hands.

Absentmindedly, the gunner nodded his head, showing minor interest. "Uh-huh, that's a nice one." He tried his best to sound really intrigued, like he actually cared, but there was a nagging in the back of his skull that caused the statement to fall short.

Of course, not that he expected anything different, this altar in his behavior did not go unnoticed. "Is everything alright?" Iris asked as she gently replaced the wooden carving. Prompto now had both of her large, concerned eyes staring right at him. She looked the other up ad down, as if looking for any visible signs that anything was amiss. But, she had a feeling she already knew what this was about.

"Everything will be fine," she assured without missing a beat. "Those were nothing but rumors, and look at this place. Everything seems just like any other day. I'm sure it was nothing."

The blond couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at her words. Maybe she was right and he was just overreacting, overly paranoid. Still, it was shameful. He was the older of the two, but he was the one being comforted and reassured by her. A slight heat rose to his cheeks at the realization. He needed to get a hold of himself. Gladio trusted him yo keep an eye on her, and he couldn't do that if he had this looming cloud over his head the whole time.

"Y-Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed, smiling awkwardly. Then, he chased t away with a more sincere one. "So, uh, where ya wanna go next?" he asked, wanting nothing more than to lift the spirits of them both. He straightened up and glanced in either direction, searching for a distraction himself.

However, Iris spotted something first as a gasp of joy warned him a moment before he was tugged along once more. "Oh, look at these!" This repeated a few more times throughout the day in different variations, and it was about to happen for a about the sixth time when they stopped in their tracks. This time, it was the young girl that caused them to come to a sudden halt. Murmurs from the crowd filled the street; they teetered between interest and fear. And, as they grew louder and more horrified, Prompto's chest began to tighten. His throat constricted as the coolness of a shadow began to veil the both of them.

"No…"

There was a moment of silence, or what seemed like silence. Maybe he was just blocking everything out, too focused on the airship looming overhead to pay any mind to anything else. Instinctively, his hand grasped around Iris' wrist. Unaware of just how tightly he gripped, he almost pulled her off her feet in a desperate flee.

"We have to get to the others, w-we have to get out of here!" the blond called over the commotion as he weaved through the crowd. He could hear them: terrified screams, cries for help, the pleas of scared children. They all swarmed around him, but he couldn't stop. He promised Gladio to protect his sister, and that was his main priority.

The both of them let out a startled yelp as something to their left erupted in rubble and flames, throwing them to their sides. They coughed as the dust settled, ringing deafened the pair. Prompto was back on his feet first, desperately ushering the girl back to hers as well.

"Come on, we have to keep movi-"

Iris' scream was the only thing the blond could discern as they were thrown to the side again, this time much more violently than the first. That one hit close… The gunner shakily got to his feet, his fingers still wrapped around the thin wrist as he helped Iris up as well. As he gave a light tug, his hols slipped, something slick causing his hand to glide off. Prompto's gaze darted to his hand…

Blood.

Eyes wide, he looked down at her arm where the same color adorned the fair skin. His breath caught in his chest as he stared at the substance, almost in a trance. Now, it was her turn to force him to move.

"I'm fine!" he shouted, silently pleading him to keep moving. He offered her a small nod and did as she asked. It couldn't have been that bad if she still had that much spunk. She was fine, he would keep his promise to Gladio. Though, even without his word, he'd still do what he could to protect her.

As they ran, there was no way to fully block out the pained shouts from the citizens. But, they didn't have much farther to go before they reached the hotel, he just had to focus on that for now. Once Iris was there and safe, then they could go back for others. He kept that thought close, using it as motivation to run faster, as fast as the both of them could. Prompto blinked against the slight blur that assaulted his vision.

He was getting light-headed. Weird, he knew he had more endurance than that, it should take more running than this to wear him out. But, his heart was hammering so fast and hard, it was making breathing rather difficult.

"We're almost there!" Iris called back. She glanced over her shoulder, and Prompto was sure he saw an almost sympathetic look in her eyes.

Before he had the chance to question that expression, a door was slamming behind him, and he finally got a chance to catch his breath. Did they actually make it? Yeah, they were fine, the made it back, but he could still hear the action taking place just outside. It was dulled now, but it didn't hurt any less to have to listen to.

As he gulped down air, he could faintly hear footsteps approaching, growling louder and quicker as the set of three descended the stairs.

"Prompto! What happened?!" the gravelly voice of Gladio demanded. The gunner couldn't help a flinch at the accusing tone. But, he looked back up to see that intense amber glare looking to the blood on his sister's arm. "You were supposed to be keeping her safe! Look at her! She's got blood all down her arm!" He didn't give Prompto an opportunity to reply as he rushed to his sister's side, gently taking her arm to inspect it.

The gunner flinched again, this time out of shame. Gladio was right though. He had a bad feeling about being out there...he should have brought them back sooner instead of waiting for something to happen. He averted his gaze, dropping it to the ground. It stayed there for a few seconds until his adrenaline finally started to wear off. Just as it did, a sharp pain jolted down his right arm.

"I-It's not mine…" Iris muttered. At the same time, Prompto looked up to see their eyes on him. Or, more specifically, his arm. He followed their gaze and found what suddenly had their attention.

Sheepishly, he grabbed at the wound with his hand, hiding it from view. "...It's not that bad," he mumbled.

Then, he looked back to Gladio's sister, "Is she alright?"

He scanned her up and down, seeing no obvious injuries aside from a few scrapes and bruises. Only artificial wounds as far as he could tell. But...it could have been far worse. She had gotten lucky. They both had. Prompto let out a small breath of relief. However, it was sucked right back in as he felt his collar being grabbed and he was less than gently pulled forward until he was face to face with an angry older brother.

"Gladio!" three voice cried out at once.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Noctis questioned, running up only to be held back with the brute's free hand.

The shield offered the prince a mere glance and focused his rage back on the blond. "You could have gotten her killed? Didn't you hear the warnings? We all knew this could happen, and toy still brought her out there?!" He gave the younger man a forceful shake, as if he were trying to rattle the answers from him. "What the hell were you thinking!?"

"I-I'm...sorry," he muttered, unable to raise his voice any louder than that. "I didn-"

"You didn't what!?" he yelled again, hand shaking as his knuckles whitened. The gunner gulped as he risked a glance down as the strong hand that held him so close and captive.

Before he could attempt to answer, Iris was next to them, both of her hands on the larger man's arm. Even with all her strength, she couldn't get him to budge. "Gladdy, stop it! It's not his fault!"

The shield regarded her for a few seconds, and his face marginally softened as she stared with this begging eyes of hers. With a scoff, he unfurled his fingers, causing the blond to stumble back. His hand was back on his arm in a second, the full sensation finally catching up with him. But, he didn't allow his discomfort to show. Well, either way, that didn't stop Ignis from strolling over to take a look for himself.

Almost defensively, Prompto yanked his arm away. "It's fine...really. Just, make sure Iris is fine," he muttered, looking away.

"She's alright, Prompto," the adviser assured with a look over. "Besides, Gladio is taking care of her now. So, let me take a look at you, alright?" Slowly, and after a nod from his best friend, did Prompto finally relax and hold the limb out. It didn't take long for Ignis to look it over; which to his relief, really wasn't all that bad. It wasn't particularly deep, but the amount of blood made it appear far worse than it was.

With a quick potion, it was taken care of in a matter of seconds. He sighed as the pain finally subsided, but he couldn't help but still be bothered by the crimson that remained behind. Not to mention there was still that slight dizziness, but it was little enough to be easily ignored. Besides, it was difficult to concern himself with such trivial things when he couldn't take his eyes off the siblings just a few feet away.

He seriously messed up. Gladio was right, Iris could have been killed out there. He wouldn't blame Gladio if he had lost all trust in the blond; he would have deserved it after today. He released a saddened breath and tore his gaze away. No sooner had he done that had the presence of another start to approach him. The gunner didn't need to look back up to know who that towering shadow belonged to.

"Gladio, I really am sor-"

He cut himself off as a hand, with much less force than earlier, landed on his shoulder. "Wait, Iris told me what happened," he started. There was still that anger in his tone, but it was held back with a bit more restraint.

Prompto peeked around the brute to cast a quick, confused glance, at the young girl.

"She told me that she was the one that wanted to go out, that you thought it was a bad idea." As he relayed all this, there was that hint of disbelief that dripped from his tongue. His eyes were lit aflame, holding the blond where he stood. "Is it true?" he asked. That simple inquiry dared Prompto to tell him anything other than the truth. It was clear he was not in any sort of mood for messing around.

Though, as much truth as it all held, admitting it felt like putting the blame on Iris. So, he hesitated, pondering on how to word this to where the fault rested on neither.

"Well?"

Prompto wanted to draw back as the larger man stepped closer. But, he managed to remain where he was, using all of his courage not to cower back. Sure, Gladio had a temper, a short one at that, but he knew the man well enough to know he wouldn't resort to violence. At least not for this. But, if Iris really had been injured. He shuddered at the thought.

The gunman took a deep and uneven breath. "Sort of," he finally replied, hand gripping his upper arm nervously. "She did want to go out and look through the market, but all these warnings, they were just rumors, so I didn't think it would hurt to head out for a few minutes. I...I didn't think…"

"So, you didn't think," Gladio repeated with a humorless smirk. "What else is new?" Minor as the insult was, Prompto felt his body ice over and his heart freeze momentarily. "All I gotta say is, you better be glad she's alright."

He at least offered Prompto a small nod, and he supposed that was the closest thing he would get to an apology for the time being. Well, it wasn't exactly an apology, but he would take it as such. He released his breath, relief flooding over him.

"We need to get out of here." Ignis chimed in, breaking the few seconds of awkward silence.

Of course, the others had nearly forgotten the events taking place. There was still the matter of getting out of the city, away from the threat. Though, that meant leaving so many innocent people to deal with the harm they had brought here. But, staying would only make it worse for the people. The longer they remained, the longer the enemy would as well. None were happy about it, yet there seemed to be a silent agreement between the four of them.

"Right," Noctis forced out, letting his displeasure known with the single word.

As the others began making their way towards the back exit, Prompto hesitated for a few seconds more, still unable to pry his gaze from the tiles.

"Come on, let's get moving," Gladio called out for him, his tone slightly lighter now. Looking up, the blond could easily see the small change in his expression. Iris stood right beside him, the small smile on her features much more inviting. "We can talk more about this later, for now, Ignis is right, we can't stay here."

Prompto gave him a half nod in return before jogging over to catch up. There would be more time for apologies later, once they were out of this mess and they had time to allow their emotions to settle down. Deep down, he knew Gladio was only thinking of his sister, he was only trying to protect her, so it was understandable. He didn't blame the man in the slightest for reacting the way he did. If anything, it just proved what a caring brother he really was.


End file.
